I never peel my banana like a monkey. I wouldn’t even know HOW to peel a monkey.

Cpt Democracy

Nice strawman argument in the trays article. Evidently the *only* arguments against removing trays are: some students like to steal them to use as sleds; and some students like to steal them as souvenirs.

It’s a good model for change advocacy:
–Mention a hot topic issue that the change helps with (in this case obesity)
–Mention another hot topic issue it helps with (in this case, going green)
–Mention an obviously trivial or erroneous counterargument. This way, you can claim to have presented both sides. (Make sure to use the weakest counterargument you can find).
–Quote a supporter.
–Quote another supporter.
–Quote an opponent–one using only the trivial argument. (Implication again: this is the *only* grounds for opposition).
–Utopia, here we come!

About

The Nudge blog is the online companion to Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein’s “Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness.” Here you’ll find much more about nudging, choice architecture, libertarian paternalism, and many other terms you won’t read about in standard economics books.

Cass Sunstein is currently the Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and has no affiliation with the Nudge blog.

The Nudge blog is edited by John Balz.

Tell us about a nudge

The possibilities for great nudges are everywhere. For a list of favorites from the book, check out our dozen nudges. We invite readers to send their own nudge suggestions to nudgeblog@gmail.com.

What is Choice Architecture?

Decision makers do not make choices in a vacuum. They make them in an environment where many features, noticed and unnoticed, can influence their decisions. The person who creates that environment is, in our terminology, a choice architect. The goal of Nudge is to show how choice architecture can be used to help nudge people to make better choices (as judged by themselves) without forcing certain outcomes upon anyone, a philosophy we call libertarian paternalism. The tools highlighted are: defaults, expecting error, understanding mappings, giving feedback, structuring complex choices, and creating incentives.

For a user-friendly introduction to choice architecture, check out this paper.